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A Review of Circumcision in New Zealand

I never liked doing them and I was pleased to give them up

  • Chapter
Understanding Circumcision

Abstract

New Zealand’s highly conformist Caucasian society rapidly adopted routine circumcision of children during World War II, taking it to one of the highest rates in the Western World. In contrast, the native Maori population avoided it altogether. During the late 1960s, the practice was given up precipitously, but not as quickly as in the United Kingdom. By the late 1970s, circumcision of Caucasian children had dropped below 1% only to be replaced by an influx of circumcising immigrants. This paper presents a short history of New Zealand’s brief flirtation with medical mythology and the curious dichotomy that now exists to confront human rights.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health Studies, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

    Ken McGrath & Hugh Young

Authors
  1. Ken McGrath
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  2. Hugh Young
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    George C. Denniston

  2. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Frederick Mansfield Hodges

  3. National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers, San Anselmo, California, USA

    Marilyn Fayre Milos

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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McGrath, K., Young, H. (2001). A Review of Circumcision in New Zealand. In: Denniston, G.C., Hodges, F.M., Milos, M.F. (eds) Understanding Circumcision. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3351-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3351-8_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3375-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-3351-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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